


Rising Action

by empireofourown_100



Category: Portrait de la jeune fille en feu | Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
Genre: F/F, Get ready for some angst, Heloise is determined to not be impressed, I'll make it worth the wait, Marianne is determined to show off, Might be slow to update, Stunt double AU, wait till you see what show I'm giving them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:01:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26661856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empireofourown_100/pseuds/empireofourown_100
Summary: Marianne is a stunt double contracted to work with rising star Heloise on a new tv series. Only problem is that Heloise is determined to do as many of her own stunts as possible creating tension between the two.Or the one inspired by the tumbler post where the hopeless gays communicate like “we’re enemies...but are we flirting?...now we’re fake flirting...or is this serious flirting?...okay now we’re kind of friends...you’ll call me pretty and I’ll call you attractive...but we’re just being nice right?...and I’m down to kiss...if you want...
Relationships: Héloïse/Marianne (Portrait of a Lady on Fire)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 19





	Rising Action

Marianne looked at the headshot the talent agent had slid to her across the desk and frowned, “Are you sure this is a good match?” 

The talent agent glanced away from her screen, looked at the headshot for about half a second, then looked back at the screen and continued clicking away. “Yes, you are the exact height needed.” 

Marianne frowned, “there’s more to it than that.”

The talent agent heaved a sigh and didn’t bother looking at Marianne this time. “Yes, yes, you’ll wear a wig and your slight build will mean you might even get a padded jacket for the hand-to-hand, although I have heard the costumes might be…”

It was Marianne’s turn to sigh, “They always are.” She looked at the photo again, ‘I’ll have to wear contacts if they do anything close up,’ she thought. Finally, as the silence stretched on she asked, “Is she at least left-handed?”

“No,” the agent answered with a sputtering chuckle, “but your switch stance has improved a lot in the last year, you’ll do fine.” 

“Because you keep matching me with right-handed leads,” Marianne grumbled quietly. 

“Listen, Marianne,” The agent said turning her swivel chair to grab a contract from the printer, “It’s a series reboot that’s already been approved for a full 20-episode opening season. You’ll have 6 months of work at least and possibly years more after that if it gets renewed. Not to mention media, conventions, and commercial deals that will spin-off it.” The woman placed the contract in front of Marianne and handed her a heavy black pen, “Stop grumbling and take the deal.” 

Marianne set the headshot aside and began to skim the contract, “I’m not an actress you know, they won’t want me doing the ‘extras,’” She put air quotes around the word, buying time as she flipped through the various clauses. 

“For this, they will,” The agent clicked something on the screen and read from the casting call, “double must be exactly 5’9”, must be willing and available for media and conventions circuits, and must speak both English and French fluently.” 

Marianne looked up at the last line, “French? That’s an odd request.”

The agent shrugged, “It’s not a problem is it?”

“No, I’ve booked enough Canadian gigs that I’m pretty fluent. I’m just surprised.” Marianne picked up the pen as she turned to the last page, “What’s the reboot?”

“Xena Warrior Princess.”

\---

Three weeks later Marianne walked into the gym with a spring in her step. She’d made the rounds to visit family and friends, found someone to sublet her flat, and packed two giant duffles stuffed to the gills with clothes and stroopwafels before flying down to New Zeland for filming. 

The director was apparently a “purist” and wanted to shoot on the same locations as the original show, which had Marianne positively vibrating with excitement. Not only was it a beautiful location, but any stamp in her passport was like a dream come true to the girl who grew up in a sleepy little town on the stormy coast of Brittany. As she took in the gym she was happy to see the pads and other safety apparatus already set up so that they could begin work straight away.

“It’s go-time.” She said to herself before striding across the room to join the stunt director, who was looking down at a tablet, “g’morning Monique what’s on the docket today?”

“Is it morning?” the director asked looking up with a playful smile, “The sun was still asleep when I got here.” 

“Your level of sarcasm is truly something to aspire to,” Marianne quipped back, “I’ve missed it.” 

“Please, if you knew it was me offering, you wouldn’t have taken the contract.” The director lifted Marianne’s coffee out of her hand, took a sip, made a face, and gave it back. “Fuck is that tea? What the fuck? are you pregnant?”

“I do not even have time to tell you how offended I am at the implication that I would ever sleep with a man!” Marianne answered with more sass than a Karen trying to make a return with no receipt, “I happen to like tea, but I’m sure you’re absolutely insane schedule will have me drinking rocket fuel to stay awake in a matter of weeks,” she added taking a sip of her tea for effect. 

Monique laughed loudly and from behind her Marianne heard, “Am I interrupting?” She turned and saw the woman from the headshot. They were, as the talent agent had said, the exact same height. Heloise had light brown hair hanging just past her shoulders and straight across bangs like the original Xena. Marianne wondered briefly if they were going to make the woman die her hair when filming started or if they were going to let her keep the honey tones. Heloise had a warm open expression and rather than being taken aback by Marianne’s outburst she seemed to want in on the joke.

“No,” Monique said, raising her hand to cover her mouth as she continued to chuckle, “we were just catching up. Heloise this is your stunty Marianne, she’s very good we did a marvel show together a while back, Marianne I’m sure you recognize Heloise.”

Marianne stuck her hand out to shake and was pleased to find the actress had a firm grip and an actual handshake. It made her optimistic about running stunts together. “Pleased to meet you.” 

Heloise smiled as she dropped her hand and answered, “It’s nice to meet you too. I hope you will not be offended by the number of stunts I will be asking to do myself.” 

Marianne detected a slight accent, which might explain the request for French in the casting call, and her smile faltered a little in response to the actress’s comment. Her pay structure didn’t EXACTLY correlate to the number of stunts she did but if her call days started getting cut because she wasn’t needed it could become an issue. “What portion were you thinking you’d like to do?”

There was an excited glint in her eye when Heloise answered, “Everything if I had it my way although the lawyers have already said no wall or tree impacts, no weapon catches, and no horses...I’m working on the horses thing.” 

Now Marianne frowned in earnest, sweeping her gaze to look questioningly at the stunt director. “Don’t worry Marriane you’ll get your credits and your hours even if I have to use you to train her.” 

Marianne bit the inside of her lip to keep from saying something rash. This was supposed to be her big break- a real, well-known tv show with serious stunts and a prime time slot. She felt like a rug was being torn out from under her. Marianne looked back at Heloise with a forced smile and thought, ‘I am not about to let some up-start method actress ruin my shot. I will fight you for every frame Heloise.”


End file.
